Cleaved
by Twist3d
Summary: Have you ever cut someone completely from your life, only to be forced to work with them under dire circumstances? Well, for Nick and his brother Ace, that's exactly the problem, inseparable until a fateful event changed everything, they figured that once school was over, they'd never see each other again. Well, life has its ways...
1. Prologue

A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to Cleaved!

Two things before ya move on. First, it's a fanfiction. So there's going to be some differences from the actual film. In this case, Nick isn't poor, but he's not wealthy either. He's in the lower middle class so to speak.

Secondly, read and review! I love to hear feedback negative and bad!

* * *

Smoke.

It was all I could see, all I could smell...

I stumbled out my bed, hacking and coughing. The floor felt hot to the touch.

"Mom! Dad!" I screamed.

The was no reply. I rushed to my bedroom door and opened it, only to be met with a blazing heat that sent me barreling backward. Smoke rushed into my room and I started coughing. Tears stung my eyes, but whether that was from the smoke or my own fear I had no idea.

I stood up shakily and walked out, using my hand as a guide, running it along the wall. One end of the hallway was completely blocked off by fallen beams from the ceiling, engulfed in a bright orange inferno.

I made my way down the other end of the hallway towards my parents bedroom.

The door was blocked by something and I could feel the heat through the door. I felt sick to my stomach.

"Mom! Dad!"

They didn't answer.

I banged on the door to no avail, tears streaming down my face. Something exploded and I decided to run out of the house for help.

I raced down the hallway only to see the dining room completely engulfed in flames, blocking the front door. The rear door was too far, on the other side of the house. I was trapped.

The heat made the moisture in my eyes and mouth boil. I burst back into my bedroom, the only area barely harmed by the flames, and smiled. Some luck at last: the window!

I threw it open when suddenly there was another explosion, closer this time, and a deafening shockwave flooded my eardrums. Something smashed against one of my legs and snapped it like a twig. I fell to the ground and hit my head, hard. My head was spinning.

Ignoring the excruciating pain, I half jumped, half fell out the window and onto the cold grass, crawling as far as I could from the house. I watched as it began to implode, the roof caving in as the flames shot higher.

I heard the familiar wail of emergency sirens and saw red and blue lights dancing off of the column of smoke billowing into the night. Help was coming. Glancing once more at my home, now no more than a burn down heap, I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

Beep...

Beep...

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I cracked open my eyes slowly to see a barren, all-white room.

Was I in a hospital?

I grimaced. My head hurt. My eyes hurt. My leg hurt as well but not as much as I would have expected. Looking down, I saw that it was in a cast. In general, I felt awful.

Sitting up, I pulled various tubes and wires off and out of my body and looked around the room for a mirror or a bathroom. Finding the latter, I painfully hobbled over, threw open the door, and stared at my reflection.

A red fox stared back. Along with the cast on my left leg, there were various bandages around my body. It made my red fur stick up in awkward ways and the tip of my tail was singed. I was a total mess.

What happened?

I walked back shakily to the hospital bed and lay back down just as a pig in a nurse uniform walked in.

"Oh my gosh! Don't move too much!" Seeing that I wasn't going to be bouncing off the walls anytime soon, she smiled. "For such a small pup, you really took a beating."

"What do you mean?"

"Broken leg, mild burns, smoke poisoning, and a concussion. And you were unconscious for almost a full week."

"How did that happen?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but I cut her off. "Do you know where my parents are? Are they okay?"

Her expression dropped. "You don't remember?" I shook my head. She sighed and sat down on the bed next to me, placing a hoof on my shoulder. "Your house burned down. Your…you were the only one to make it out."

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. "You mean…my parents…?" I stammered, not able to actually say the words. The words that meant my life had changed. Forever.

She nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry."

I couldn't help it. The sobs wracked my body, making me ache all over. But I didn't care. I felt like I wouldn't care about anything else ever again.

My name is Ace.

I'm six years old.

My favorite color is blue…

And now... I'm an orphan.

* * *

A couple days later I was lying on the bed, looking at one of those kid magazines that hospitals always have.

I wasn't really reading it. Nothing really grabbed my attention anymore, not even the picture-search puzzles I loved so much.

Everything just seemed bland.

But then the door to my room opened and instead of the pig nurse (who's name I learned was Lucy), a police officer walked in. He was a red panda and he had a balloon in his paw.

"Hey there Ace," he said like we were friends. I didn't recognize him. "They told me you were awake and doing okay. I thought I'd come over and give you a little something to help you feel better." He tied the string of the balloon to the railing of my bed.

I looked up at it with its big GET WELL SOON! message and then back at the cop.

"Who are you?" I asked. And I actually was curious. This was the first thing that had really interested me since…

Well. It was the first thing that interested me in a while.

"I'm Officer Fulgen. I was the one who found you outside your house and brought you here."

"Outside my house?" I repeated, confused.

The officer's brow furrowed. "How much do you remember of that night?"

Too much. Some of my memories had come back from when I first woke up. I remembered the heat and the smoke and the way my parents didn't respond when I called out to them. But I didn't say any of that. Instead, all I said was, "Not much."

The red panda sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"When we got to your house, it was already too late. I was going around to the back, making sure the fire hadn't spread to any other houses, when I saw you lying on the grass. I scooped you up and brought you to the paramedics, but you wouldn't let go of me. So I came along with you to the hospital. I asked them to tell me when you woke up to see if you were okay for myself. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

He didn't talk to me like the other doctors and nurses did.

They kept calling me "champ" and saying that it would all be okay. But it wasn't going to be okay. I wasn't stupid. And Officer Fulgen understood that. He was honest and straight forward, but still kind.

Just then, Nurse Lucy came in with a tray of food.

"Oh!" she said as she saw the red panda, who stood when she entered. "I didn't know you had a visitor. It's lunchtime, champ!" She placed the tray on the table by my bed before leaving. I watched her close the door and then turned my attention to the food she had brought me. It was typical hospital food: bland and boring.

Maybe it was the hospital that was bland and boring.

Officer Fulgen turned and rested a paw on my cast before taking out a sharpie from his pocket. He wrote something I couldn't see and then tussled the fur between my ears.

"You're a fighter, Ace. Never forget that. I'll see you around." He winked, and then left.

I craned my neck to see what he had written on my cast and for the first time since the fire, I smiled. He had drawn a quick sketch of a fox with a cape, standing with its fists at its waist.

Later that day I took a small blanket from the cabinet on the other side of the room and tied it around my neck. If I could have jumped off my bed and have my new cape flutter behind me, I would have.

But… that wouldn't have worked out with the current state of my leg and all.

The last thing I saw before going to sleep that night was the balloon floating high above me, and I dreamed of flying.

* * *

In the month I'd been here not one item on the menu tasted good. I took a bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich they had given me for breakfast, grimacing at the terrible taste.

How do you mess up a PB&J sandwich? It's so simple.

I quickly ate the rest of it, not wanting to prolong my torture, before drinking the cup of water that had gone along with the sandwich. Nurse Lucy walked into the room with a small bag not long after that.

"The CPA will be here soon, so I'll give your clothes to you now," she said, smiling as she placed the bag next to me on the bed.

"CPA?" I asked, looking inside the bag to find a blue hoodie, a white tee, and some black sweatpants. They smelled like fruits.

"Child Protection Association. They'll bring you to a foster home where you'll live until someone decides to adopt you."

I felt my eyes water. "A-adopt?" I almost whispered.

She placed a hoof on my shoulder in an attempt to console me. It didn't work. Realizing this, she removed her hoof and walked towards the door. "I'll leave you to change. I'll be here if you have any questions. You just need to call, alright?"

Any questions? Of course I had questions! Yet…I couldn't bring myself to say a word. I just looked at her and nodded.

She sighed, waving as she left, and I put on my clothes. Everything fit almost flawlessly. The exception being the huge hood on my hoodie.

I sat on the bed again, trying to remember my life before the fire.

I had a family, a home. And now…

My head pounded.

"This really sucks," I said to no one in particular.

When the CPA arrived, they drove me down to some rural area.

I didn't really care where they took me.

The car slowed to a stop, and we were outside a huge house. The driver, a panther, who had mentioned his name before but I hadn't cared to remember, opened the door for me.

"Welcome to Cruz's Foster Home."

My ears drooped. "Yay..."

The panther seemed like he would sympathize with me, but he just rang the doorbell, handed over some papers, and left me there.

An old Cheetah answered the door in a weird pink and white dress. She had large glasses, wrinkles all over her face, and a stern to boot.

"You're Ace, huh?" she said.

"Yeah."

She eyed me shrewdly. "Dinner's at six, the kids are in the back. Your room will be set up later." She turned tail and left me there, feeling just a little neglected.

"Could've at least given me a tour," I muttered as I stepped through the door and into the house.

It was simple. The entire first floor was open concept, with each room flowing into one another. The living room had a large TV and toys scattered everywhere. The dining room had a huge table that was filled with chairs, and the kitchen was your normal kitchen.

I decided to go out back to look at the other foster children before I explored the upstairs. I stood behind the back door and it swung open with a loud screech, alerting everyone to my presence.

There were several bunnies, a sheep, a cat, a duck, a badger, and a wolf.

"Who are you?" the duck asked. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and brown shorts.

"My name's Ace," I said.

He smiled. "Nice to meet you. My name's Dylan. The sheep is Mari, the cat is Gus, the badger is Jasper, and the wolf is-"

"None of his business," the wolf interrupted him.

He was grey with dark yellow eyes and wore a white tank top with green shorts. He walked over and leered at me. "You'd better watch your back, newbie."

I glared at him. "What am I, an owl?"

He just rolled his eyes and shoved me out the way.

Dylan shook his head. "That's Chet. He's a bit of a bully. Rumor has it, he's been through six foster homes." He said whispering the last part.

I raised my eyebrows. Definitely not the type to make enemies with the first day. So far things were going great. "So you wanna play tag?" Dylan asked.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Uh, I can't really..." I lifted up a sweatpant leg to show my cast.

Dylan nodded. "We could just play catch then."

I nodded, and he went to grab a ball.

Before we knew it, the sun was setting and the air was getting a little colder.

A bell chimed. Dylan grabbed my hand. "That's the dinner bell. We'd better get inside."

They all rushed forward and I followed.

The food was... unique.

Mashed potatoes that hadn't been mashed all the way and some sort of weird block-like thing. And drizzled on top of everything was a thin and tasteless gravy.

This is gross.

I forced myself to eat it, though. This was no better than the hospital. If anything, it was worse.

When everyone was done, Ms. Cruz told us it was bedtime and everyone walked upstairs mechanically.

There were four rooms in total: three for us and one for Ms. Cruz. We all took turns showering and I couldn't help but gag at buildup of fur near the drain.

When I was done, I went to the last room in the hallway which had a two bunk beds in it. I went to the first bed and sat down on the bottom bunk. Jasper followed me into the room, claiming the top bunk…of the other bed.

Ms. Cruz clapped and cut off the lights.

I sighed, laying down, and closed my eyes, hoping sleep would bring happier thoughts.


	2. Home

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* * *

That was four years ago.

Not much had changed since then.

I'd taken up a couple hobbies, one of which being basketball. Everyone said I was too small, but honestly, I didn't let it get to me. Besides, it was fun surprising people with my speed.

I never got close to anyone because they'd always leave. The only ones who were still here were Jasper, who was 16 and working, and Dylan, who was adopted years ago, but visited to play now and then.

But things can change quickly when you aren't expecting it.

I was shooting around in the backyard when I heard the doorbell ring.

I ran around the side of the house to see Ms. Cruz letting in a red fox, followed by a small kit, who was probably my age. I stopped moving to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Well right now, there's about four boys and three girls," Mr. Cruz was explaining.

"Mom, can't I just go in the car and wait?" That was the young kit.

The red fox rolled her eyes. "No honey. I told you that we'd be coming here so go and introduce yourself to the kids and see if there's anyone you like."

The kit whined. "Mom. We're foxes. No one likes foxes."

She whacked him on the head softly. "Don't be like that. Go on and introduce yourself to him, Ms. Cruz and I have grown-up things to discuss."

No longer able to hear what they were saying, I went back to practicing on my own, lazily throwing up shots.

Bonk! The ball hit the backboard, and bounced off the rim.

I sucked air through my teeth, running to get the ball.

"Can I get a shot?"

I looked over at the source of the voice. It was the kit I'd seen earlier.

"Sure, but sheath your claws first." I said, passing it to him.

"I know," he said, catching the ball and dribbled to where I was standing.

He shot, and the ball flew into the hoop, making a loud Swish.

He grabbed it and passed it back to me, smiling. "You wanna have a one on one?"

I smiled. "Sure."

* * *

The game was about 20-19 in my Nick's favor and I had the ball.

He laughed. "I figured you were a terrible shooter with all those bricks from earlier. It's like you were aiming for the rim."

I laughed. "Those were lazy shots! They don't count."

I turned my back to him to counteract his post up, effectively keeping his paws away from the ball, before jumping back and taking my shot. The ball rolled around the rim but fell out. He grabbed the rebound, ran a few feet down the court, and shot.

The ball hit the rim, bounced high…and hit nothing but net.

I covered my eyes with my paws. "Aww man!"

The kit smiled and offered a paw. "That was a good game. What's your name?"

I was going to answer, but was interrupted by a familiar voice. "There you are!" I felt my ears flatten at the sound of her shrill call.

Ms. Cruz hobbled over angrily, yanking my ear.

I grimaced. "Ouch! Owowow!"

"How many times have I told you?! When the bell rings, everyone goes into the living room."

I looked at the ground and shrugged. "It's been four years. I doubt anyone wants me."

Ms. Cruz let go of my ear and, for the first time I'd ever seen, smiled. Like, actually smiled!

It was kind of creepy.

"Well, Mrs. Wilde's here to prove you wrong."

The red fox from earlier walked out and looked at me with her warm green eyes. "So you're Ace!" she said with a smile. "You look so much cuter in person."

I felt my face get flushed. Thank goodness I was already red to begin with.

Her smile widened. "Well, like Ms. Cruz said, I'm here to adopt you. That's my son, Nick " She pointed over at the kit I had been playing basketball with.

He rubbed his ear bashfully. "Uh, welcome to the family I guess."

I felt my smile go from ear to ear. I turned to Ms. Cruz.

"Can I-"

"Get your stuff? Of course." Ms. Cruz smiled. Again. This certainly was turning out to be a strange day!

I bolted up the steps and into my room. I didn't have much I could claim as mine: clothes, toothbrush, and the basketball I'd won at a carnival last year. It was tan and red, matching me perfectly. A few other small items joined them as I shoved them all into my book-bag before slamming the door shut before racing back downstairs.

Mrs. Wilde smiled, putting her paw on my shoulder and led Nick and me to their car.

As we began heading toward the city, I glanced back one last time at the house that had been my home for almost half my life before it was lost behind a cornfield

Nick tapped my shoulder and I turned around to face him. "So... How old are you?" he asked.

"I'm ten."

He smiled. "Me too! That means when school starts again we'll be in the same class!"

"Yeah." I found myself liking the idea more and more as I thought about it.

Nick pointed at my bag. "So what'd ya bring?"

"Nothing really. A ball... I have this flashlight my friend gave me a really long time ago."

Nick furrowed his brow. "What's so special about it?"

"It's really bright." I said flicking it on.

The car swerved.

* * *

When we got to Nick's—our home, it was still light out.

It was a nice house, with two stories, a decent sized backyard, and in a good looking neighborhood. It reminded me a lot of…No, I wasn't going to think about it. Not today. Not when my life was finally starting to get better.

Nick's mom (my mom?) unlocked the door. "You two play outside while I tidy up a bit. I have a feeling that Nick didn't do that before we left." She gave him a look.

He laughed guiltily and quickly scrambled out of the car with me on tow. He gestured toward the backyard. "I know a game we could play, if you want... You okay?"

I hadn't noticed that I was crying. I felt my face heat up, as I wiped my face quickly. "Dust. Uh, dust got in my eye." I said, rubbing my eyes. Nick just nodded, not dwelling on it. "So the game? You were talking about it?"

"Oh! Yea. The game is 'Pirates and Turtles'. Basically, the pirates are trying to steal something the turtles have. The problem is they move very slowly, so the turtles have to use sound to catch the pirates before they take the treasure."

"Okay."

He pulled out a quarter. "Heads or Tails?"

"Tails."

He flipped the coin and it landed on heads.

"That means you're the Pirate. Here's the treasure."

He handed me a rubber ball, and I stifled a laugh. "Some treasure, eh?"

Nick laughed. "Shut up, it's the greatest treasure in the world!"

I laughed for what seemed like the first time in a while. It was forced out of kindness for a bad joke, but I was actually happy.

It felt...nice.


	3. New Faces P1

**A/N:** Thanks for 300 hits guys!

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

I clutched desperately to the sides of the little wooden cart as if my life counted on it. I pressed my back against the back of the cart while Nick stood in the front, pretending to drive.

"Nick, this is a horrible idea!" I said, not even pretending to hide my fear.

We hit a bump, and I felt like screaming.

"Relax, the hill ends at a pond." He laughed.

"I can't swim!" I screamed.

"Oh." His ears twitched a bit and he turned to look at me. "We should jump out then."

Without warning he leapt out and I followed suit, hitting the grass fairly hard.

The cart continued rolling on before crashing into the pond, sending algae-infested water near our feet.

I lay there, clutching my chest as if my heart was going to pop out.

"Never…again," I said, trying to catch my breath.

Nick just laughed, arms splayed out on either side of him, head leaning back against the grass, and just seeming to enjoy our near death experience.

"Where are we anyway?" I asked sitting up.

Nick stood, helping me up to my feet, before pointing to a park not to far away. He started walking towards it. I followed.

I seemed to be doing a lot of that now.

"Mom said we should register for a public team over the summer," he explained. "I didn't want to before but, since you're here with me, I figured that it'd be more fun. Anyways, the park team usually holds tryouts in a week, so I thought we should practice. Or just go for fun."

I scratched my ear. "What if no-one picks us up?"

He waved it off. "If that doesn't matter, we could just beat them off the court."

* * *

"I'm open!" I hollered.

Nick passed the basketball to me and I shot it, my defender barely missing the block.

Swish!

The steel chains racketed as the ball flew threw the hoop, and our opponents, a grey wolf and a serval cat, groaned in annoyance.

"That's 20-18! We're up!" I chimed.

"Come on Vince! Stop being lazy! Guard him!" the serval yelled.

Vince rolled his eyes. "It's kinda hard when he's just running around and shooting like that."

Vince chucked the ball back to me, and I waited for Nick to get open before passing it to him.

He pretended to shoot, before passing it back to me for a quick layup.

 _Swish_!

"That's game," I said, giving Nick a high five.

Vince grimaced and cut off the serval before he could speak. "Shut up Simon. I don't want to hear it."

Simon rolled his eyes before offering a hand for a handshake. "Good game."

"Thanks," I said shaking his hand. "How old are you guys?"

Simon spoke first. "I'm eleven, Vince here is _only_ ten," he said mockingly.

Vince blushed. "You act like your so much older then me. We're only three months apart."

Simon stuck his tongue out at him.

"You guys want to get milkshakes at the diner?" Nick asked.

I was all for it. Mrs. Wilde, or Mom as she want me to call her, gave us both five dollars before we left. And that was enough for any milkshake on the menu.

I felt rich.

Simon smiled. "Sure. I could go for a milkshakes right now."

Vince nodded, and picked up his basketball.

A waitress came over to take our orders, and I was all to happy to give mine.

"Strawberry and Banana please."

She nodded then went over to Nick.

"Chocolate," he said.

Then Vince.

"Piña colada," he said.

Simon stared at the menu a long time before making up his mind. "Vanilla."

She stared at him oddly, collected our money then left, coming back with the shakes a few minutes later.

Vince took a sip from his milkshake. "So. Where you guys from?"

I continued to drink my milkshake. I couldn't really answer because I didn't know the area all that well yet. It had only been a few weeks since I'd begun living with Nick and Mrs. Wilde.

"We're from the Rainforest District. By Jade Street," Nick responded.

Vince nodded. "How'd you guys get here?"

I leered at Nick, remembering his rather unconventional method to get here.

He chuckled. "We walked. Wasn't that long."

Simon seemed shocked. "That's so weird. You'd think we'd have met before, living in the same area."

"You live on Jade Street?" I asked.

"No. We live a couple blocks from it, though," Vince said from beside me.

Simon nodded. "Vince and I are step-brothers. We moved here last year."

"No kidding?" Nick said. "Ace is my adopted brother, though it hasn't been nearly as long as a year. Just about a month now, actually."

We finished our drinks and left the diner, making our way back to the park and then from there, home.

"Do you guys plan on joining the team?" Nick asked Simon, dribbling the ball as they walked up the street as I lagged behind them, walking alongside Vince, who was whistling as we walked.

The grey wolf scratched his ear, before turning to me.

"Is he, like, your older brother now or something?"

"Nick?" I asked, looking back him. He nodded. "He's the same age as me."

"Nick" I yelled. He turned around, walking backwards. "Yea?"

"When's your birthday?" I asked.

"It's in November." He replied quickly.

I looked back at Vince. "I guess that actually makes me older. My birthday's in October."

"Oh."

He stopped talking after that, and I frowned.

Vince was a quiet guy.


	4. Visitors P1

**A/N:** 500 hits! Thanks!

Anyways enjoy the chapter! I've been busy so sorry for the late update, and the short chapter.

Read and Review please~

* * *

The sounds of our laughter echoed throughout the supermarket.

Mrs. Wilde had brought Nick and me into the store with her and when we passed the toy section…well, it looked like too much fun not to have.

We were play-fighting with foam swords we had picked up off a shelf when Mrs. Wilde started wheeling the cart to the front of the store. The line for the case register was extremely long. Perfect! More time to play!

"Thou hast made a mistake challenging the great Thane of Dairy," Nick said, waving the sword at Ace.

I chortled, swiping my own sword at him. "Have at thee!"

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey!" Mrs. Wilde called out. We stopped, and looked over. "I need some waffle mix. Can you guys grab some for me?"

Nick frowned. "Ugh. I hate waffles."

I stared at him incredulously. "What _are_ you? How can you not like waffles."

Ms. Wilde laughed. " _Because_ he's a weirdo. Just go and get the mix please?"

I saluted and Nick nodded. "I don't care. I'm just not going to eat them."

"Your loss," I said, racing with Nick to the correct isle.

* * *

"These look good," I said, reaching for a pack of "light and fluffy" waffle mix. Grabbing them, I turned around and passed them to Nick. "Why is mom buying all this stuff anyway?" I asked.

"Some of the family is coming over this weekend."

"Oh," I said. I hadn't even considered that Nick could have other family besides his mom. Our mom.

We walked back to the cash register where Mrs. Wilde stood, waiting behind a couple of other animals. The line was still pretty long.

"Here you go!" I called out to Mrs. Wilde, reaching up and placing the waffle mix inside the cart.

She glanced down before smiling. "Thanks guys." She tilted her head toward a couple of chairs. "You two can wait by the pharmaceutical area. I'm not sure when this line will start moving."

Nick and I nodded and we headed over to the chairs and sat down.

Some time passed before I decided to ask Nick a question.

"Soooo..." I drawled. "What's the rest of your family like?"

Nick shrugged. "Well, It's kinda hard to describe everyone."

"Do you want me to narrow it down?"

Nick nodded. "That'd be helpful."

"Alright. What's your dad like?"

"Was."

"Huh?"

"What was he like." He paused. "Before you apologize, don't feel bad. He died before I was born. My older siblings knew him, though."

I smiled. "You have more siblings?"

"Three. My oldest brother Robin, then my brother Tom, and the last one is my sister Violet. They are... twenty, eighteen, and seventeen. I think. I don't remember exactly how old Violet is."

"Where do they live?" I asked, curious why I had never seen them or even heard about them until now.

He smiled. "They live down south, in a rural area with my dad's side of the family. I can't quite remember the name of the area right now. Mom mentioned us going down there sometime this summer."

"So, who's coming by tomorrow?" I asked.

Nick stayed silent for a couple seconds before answering. "Aunt Casey, Uncle Finn, and my cousin Tay. He's like eight or nine, but he'll probably stay around them the whole time. On the bright side, Uncle Finn is a developer for a gaming company, so sometimes he brings us gifts."

That sounded so cool! I was about to ask him what sort of games, but our conversation was interrupted by the sound of Ms. Wilde's shopping cart squeaking next to us.

"Lets load up the car so we can go."

I nodded. Nick and I grabbed a handful of bags and followed her to the car.

The ride back wasn't all that eventful, as I was too lazy to bring up the topic of Nick's family again.

So Ms. Wilde did.

"Nick, Ace. We're going to have guests tomorrow, so please, clean up your room."

I muttered an "Okay", a bit annoyed because my side of the room in particular, was covered in toys and the like.

"Nick, please don't harass Finn about the games and stuff."

He rolled his eyes. "He said he doesn't mind, though."

"Just don't pester him. Last time he came by you kept bothering him until he ordered something."

Nick flushed. "I really didn't."

She laughed. "Mmmmhmmm."

I laughed a little to myself and Nick leered at me.

"Well... Ace ate a worm yesterday at the park!"

My eyes widened. "That's just because I lost that dare!"

Ms. Wilde laughed and I glared at Nick.

He grinned and stuck his tongue out.


	5. Visitors P2

**A/N:**

Enjoy the chapter!

Read and Review please~

To those wondering where your OC is, be patient. They'll be in here soon.

* * *

" _Life is like a coin. Pain and pleasure are the two sides. Only one side is visible at a time. But remember, the other side is waiting for it's turn."_

 _-Anonymous_

"You look like you're eight."

"I'm ten," I said hotly, flushing in annoyance.

"Wow. Well, you look like you're younger then that. I though you were my age for a second."

I huffed, feeling my irritation drain away. "I assume you're eight then. Anyway…welcome to my humble abode."

"You're room's all messy!" Tay practically yelled. "Mom says your room is supposed to be all neat and organized. Then again Nick's room isn't ever clean either."

I gave him a look, trying to subtly shove some underwear underneath my bed. Pretty sure he noticed and just didn't comment on it.

He held up his hands defensively. "My room l is a mess sometimes too. I was just saying."

He looked at me and Nick. "So… what do you guys want to do?"

"I don't have much to do in my room. Nicks the one with all the games in his room."

Tay nodded, and continued to look around the room. Before staring intently at Ace for awhile.

"So what happened to your parents? My aunt mentioned you were adopted."

Nick's eyes flashed in shock before he hit Tay on the back of his head. "Don't ask that!"

I stared the ground, smiling softly. "Don't hit 'im. It's not his fault for asking."

I looked back up. "They died in a fire. I was the only survivor."

Nick's eyes widened as did Tay's. "Jeez. I wish I didn't ask now... sorry for your loss."

I waved my hand. "It's cool. I don't remember much about them anyway."

My ears fell back, and I rubbed the back of my head. "I didn't intend to kill the mood like this." I laughed weakly. "Let's play Crazy Eights."

I dug in my nightstand drawer for a deck of cards before taking them out and shuffling them.

"First card in effect."

* * *

"You can't put that down Nick!" I hollered.

"Yes I can!"

"That's a 3 of clubs. You put down a 6 of spades."

He snickered, picking up the card. "Oh. My bad."

Tay placed his last card down. "Card Out."

I groaned. "Must be a bad luck streak. I never lose Crazy Eights."

Nick tossed his cards down.

There was a audible click as I turned on the tv in my room. It quickly blinked to life, and I sat on my bed, flicking through channels.

Tay, stared for awhile before waving, and saying he wanted to hangout with "Auntie".

I nodded, and waved.

That left just Nick and I in the room, and he stretched.

"Wanna plays some games in my room?" He offered.

I shook my head. That was a one way street to an L. Nick spent most of his time playing games, assuming we weren't outside.

"Kay. Just knock if you need somethin'." He left, closing the door behind him.

And finally I was alone with my thoughts.

I yawned and stared at the ceiling blankly.

I just wanted some alone time.

I wasn't sad, or depressed or anything like that.

Foxes were solitary animals after all.

I rolled of my bed and reached under it pulling out a small box.

Inside it was a small carving knife, a price of wood and other things.

I took out a small lightning bolt shaped piece of wood, and began carving it. I'd been working on it off and on for a week or so, having bought the set at a arts and crafts kiosk after a basketball game.

That brought him to another topic.

The neighborhood team were a bunch of meat-heads.

They didn't pass.

Well, they never played him in the first place.

It was probably because he was a fox.

He placed the knife down, choosing to carve the finer details with his claws.

He wasn't sure how long he was at it, but soon there was a knock at the door.

"Ace? The food's ready." It was Ms. Wilde speaking.

I quickly replied with a "yea." and continued to finish up the carving. It was nearly complete, and only needed to be painted.

I left it on my bed, before exiting and shutting the door.

* * *

The dinner table was loud and I plopped onto a seat next to Nick.

Everyone was talking about different topics, and Ms. Wilde set my plate in front of me, handing me a fork as well.

I quickly began eating, savoring the delicious food.

"Did you wash your hands?" Ms. Wilde asked.

"Ob course I ded!" I lied, taking another forkful of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" She scolded.

I smiled toothily, much to her annoyance.

When we finished eating, Ms. Wilde brought over a big blueberry pie.

It was _good_.

Like, _really good._

* * *

It was probably around nine now.

Nick had fallen asleep on the end of my bed and I groaned.

Now I'd have to wake him up, and when I do that he gets grumpy.

And grumpy Nick is annoying.

I lay me head back down, and yawned.

Maybe there's still some pie left.

That'll compensate for having to deal with Nick.

I got off the bed softly, descending down the steps quietly.

Ms. Wilde was a very nice woman. But eight-thirty was bedtime, and getting caught meant chores the next day.

But a familiar whirr across the hall let me know she was in her room, reading with the fan on.

I smiled when I saw my goal. The last piece of blueberry pie. I reached for it.

"So. You're the enigmatic Ace I've heard so much about?"

I jumped, fur standing on end. It came from grey fox standing across from me. I assumed he was Finn, Nick's uncle.

He wore thin framed glasses, a t-shirt shirt, basketball shorts, and stared at me with a small smirk.

"Come sit over here." He gestured to to couch and I complied.

I looked around. "Where's Tay?"

He chuckled. "That kid only hangs with his mommy all day. He never wants to be around me."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I dunno."

We sat there in a awkward silence, the only sound be his occasional sip of his beer.

"You aren't gonna tell on me, are you?" I asked, twiddling my thumbs.

He shook his head. "Sam won't mind you being up if I'm just talkin to ya."

"Huh?"

"Sam is Ms. Wilde's first name."

"Oh. Okay."

He chuckled a bit. "So. Tell me about yourself. You are a new addition to the Wilde family, after all."

I felt myself heat up. "Um. That's a pretty broad subject... Maybe narrow it down?"

He nodded. "Favorite pastime?"

"I don't mind a good book and a quiet room. But playing outside is fun too."

He nodded, pausing to drink some juice.

"Do you play any sports?"

I nodded. "Basketball. Handball... Dodgeball."

He smiled. "Ok. How do you like it here?"

I smiled. "I like it a lot. Feels like home."

He nodded. "I could tell by the look in your eye. You remind me a lot of myself when I was was your age."

I cocked my head to the side. "How so?"

He shrugged, "I dunno. You just do."

"Oh."

There was a brief silence.

"I was a orphan too ya know. When I turned eleven, my parents got murdered in a shootout. I was tossed from foster home to foster home."

I looked up and he was staring off in the distance.

"I met my wife, Sam's sister, when I was 23. She and Tay, are my world. And I was so grateful to have a chance at having a family again."

He looked at me again. "So when Sam mentioned she'd adopted a child I wanted to be the first to meet him or her." He paused. "Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. So if you ever feel out of place or anything..." He gave me a his company card, with his extension, and personal number. "I want to be the first person you call."

I was a bit stunned. I didn't feel out of place, but his words definitely hit home. Especially when he mentioned the foster homes.

It made me think of all the years I spent, being made fun of.

All the fights I got into.

Struggling to find somewhere I belonged.

The feeling that I would never truly belong anywhere.

I hadn't even noticed I was crying.

Or the fact I was sniffling.

He smiled softly, before offering a hug. And I gladly accepted.

He stroked my back, and I sat there crying like a baby.

It was humiliating.

But it was needed. I knew bottling up how I was feeling with a friendly facade, was a bad idea.

When I pulled away, I laughed bashfully, noticing the wet patch I had left on his t-shirt from the tears. "Um. Sorry."

He laughed. "It's not a big deal. I don't care."

I noticed that the fan in Ms. Wildes room was off, and that if she came out, I'd surely be caught.

He nodded, having noticed too. "If you ever want to hang out, I'm just a call away."

I nodded and he offered a hand, and I smiled shaking it vigorously.

He chuckled and I grabbed the pie before rushing up the steps. Quietly, of course.


	6. Locked

**A/N:** Wow, almost 1k hits woo. Anyways, it's been a stressful month, so I was happy to work on this chapter as a means to relax, whenever I had time.

First of all, thanks to all those that reviewed!

*Deep Breath *

Thanks to **Steve The Visonary, Sunny Lighter, steefwaterbutter, and Rainbows And Twilight**! All of the reviews are greatly appreciated.

Second of all, thanks to my Betas **Corona Pax** , for taking the time to proof read my chapters, and help better them. And thanks to **Arlothia** for helping me with brainstorm ideas for future chapters!

Anyways they're both awesome, and if you guys need betas, look no further.

Enjoy the chapter! Read and review.

OC Submissions are **closed**.

* * *

" _The past is a lesson. The present is a gift. The future is your, motivation."_

-Unknown

We were standing behind a bush outside, the biggest, scariest house on the block. The house just looked eerie in every way possible. The lime green paint peeled, revealing splotches of dark, rotted wood. The lights were all off, but that would make sense… seeing as it was the middle of the day. The blinds were crooked, and dirty looking, and I could have sworn it one was swinging softly… almost like someone was watching.

The creepiest part though, was the door. It was a dark green, which contrasted the bright, lime, background.

I really didn't want to see what was on the other side.

But, it was also the current location of Nick's handball that happened to bounce into the yard.

Nick took a deep breath."Just remember if we get caught, you're deaf, and I don't speak English?"

I nodded wearily, and Nick stepped carefully into the yard, and I followed slowly, creeping on the lawn ever so carefully. The grass was knee height, which seemed pretty high, but then again, foxes weren't the tallest animals.

I saw it out the corner of my eye and tugged at Nick's shirt, pointing it out.

His eyes were wide as they flicked between the ball we wanted and the door that, should it open, would mean certain doom.

He looked back at me, "You saw it, you should get it."

I glared at him. "If you didn't have such buttery fingers, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."

He frowned.

I crossed my arms.

He sighed, but ran over to grab it, and a voice broke out.

"Why are you guys whispering?" A voice said.

I turned around in horror, to see a small, fennec fox standing there. He stood there loudly chewing on a straw, staring at us silently. He was wearing a black cape, along with a small suit. His eyes were droopy, and he had large bags around them. His fur darkened at the edges of his body, the most noticeable being at his ears, which were a dark brown in contrast to light tan color of his face.

I tried sticking to the plan Nick had, and he pointed to his large ears. "You aren't deaf and you speak English." He said looking at at each of us respectively.

"You're annoying." Nick said.

The tan fox grinned. "You should watch your mouth, considering that you're trespassing."

Nick gave him a look of bewilderment. "And you aren't?"

He shook his head. "I live here."

My mouth dropped open.

The outside look scary enough! I couldn't imagine what horrors went on inside.

The fennec fox rolled his eyes. "My parents are artists. This house is part of their newest project." He noticed me staring. "This outfit has to do with it as well. I'm not wearing this on free will."

I let out a sigh of relief, at least we knew the house wasn't a house of horrors.

Nick scratched his head. "Soooo… can I get my ball then?"

The fox shrugged, and Nick walked over to grab it.

I found myself standing there in an awkward silence with the fox.

It was unbearable. How could you just stand there in silence and just… stare at someone?

It was just weird. He was weird. This house was weird.

I broke the silence with a question. "So, what's your name?"

"It's Mark." He replied dryly.

And that's how we met Mark.

He was from up north, and just recently moved into town. His parents were working on a month long project they called, "The Coconut Experiment." It was to test how people would react to a house that looked horrendous on the outside, but beautiful on the inside.

I didn't budge though, nothing would get me to go into that house. I didn't care how nice they promised it would be.

Anyways, back to Mark.

He wasn't all that athletic and preferred to play board games, and the like. Nick and I hated playing Pirates and Turtles with him though.

We never won.

Not once.

Those huge ears would pick up even the slightest noise, and he'd win.

He loved reading, and that was something we shared in common. His favorite genre was Sci-Fi, and mine was Mystery, but if he really claimed a book was good, I'd give it a try.

And that was all there was to him.

He was one of those friends that just didn't do much.

Today he came over and brought some cards. We were playing crazy eights.

It was an insanely hot today, and the sidewalk was too hot to walk on, so the AC inside was just a better alternative.

So the three of us sat back and enjoyed the cool air.

"I think we had basketball practice today Nick." I said, throwing down a 3 of spades.

Nick shrugged. "The last thing I want to do right now, is play outside."

He placed down a 2 of spades.

"That's on you Mark. Pickup."

He snickered, before placing a ace of spades down.

I frowned, picking up six cards. "Wow."

There was a knock on the door, and Ms. Wilde stepped in. "Nick, today's the um-"

She stopped, glancing at Mark and I.

Ms. Wilde's eyes shifted awkwardly between the three of us. "I'm sorry Mark, but Nick has to go the doctor, and no one will be home to watch you two."

I frowned. "I have to go too?"

She nodded.

Why did I have to go? I wasn't hurt.

Mark nodded, before smiling. "Kay. See you guys later." We handed him the cards, and he waved before leaving the room with a bit of haste, sensing the tense air.

Nick stared at the ground, his eyes were squinted, eyebrows furrowed, and his fists were clenched.

Nick's looked off to the side, and placed his cards down. "You know how a feel about this Mom... I don't want to go."

Ms. Wilde frowned. "It's for your own-"

"I don't want to go.." His voice was shakier this time, and I could feel his anger.

There was a (brief) silence and I felt like I should probably leave. I moved to get up but Nick shoot me a look… His eyes were watery, and his ears were flat against the back of his head.

Ms. Wilde turned around, a look of pity written all over her face.. "The appointment is in two hours. I don't want to have to make you go."

She left, closing the door with a click.

Now it was just Nick and I, and he rubbed his eyes.

I scratched my head, fiddling with the necklace carving I'd made a couple days ago. It was a lightning bolt, and took forever to make. A little hole was bored through the middle, through which a tiny black thread was put through.

"Still don't want to talk about it?" I asked, climbing onto his bed, and sitting down. It was annoying me that almost a week after the fact, Nick still wouldn't tell me what happened.

He shook his head softly, before handing me a controller. "I-I just want to play a game."

I took the controller, and nodded.

I'd gotten to know Nick a little this summer, but there's still a ton I don't know…

I did know he loved games. He always seemed more comfortable and relaxed when he did. But even I could see that sometimes it was his way of pushing away issues, at least temporarily.

I took the controller as he booted up his PlayCenter 3. He scrolled through the interface before picking a racing game.

It was true that Nick's Mom worked on a tight budget at times but having a uncle that worked at a gaming company had it's props.

There was a small whirring noise as he started I the game, and we picked our cars.

Then, a lap into the race, he flung the controller to the floor, and just lay down with his back to the ground.

"Do you know what it's like? To feel weak?"

I was caught off-guard by the question. "I'm not sure, but I know something close to that feeling. Wanna hear a story?"

He sat up, leaning on his elbow. "I guess."

"You gotta tell me what happened though."

He winced. "Yea, that's fair."

I blew out some air. "Well, it was a year before I met you guys."

* * *

I gnawed angrily on my pen as I watched the teacher write about one of the first founders of Zootopia.

Pap.

A piece of paper hit my back before landing next to me. I picked it up.

"If you read this ur stoopid."

I rolled my eyes before writing on the paper.

"Learn how to spell."

I threw it back, and continued to copy the teacher's notes.

There was a small thud when the paper landed back on my desk.

"what a laaaame comeback."

I flicked the paper off my desk, and tried to focus on whatever the instructor was saying.

There was loud ring and I let out a sigh of relief knowing the day was over.

I grabbed my bag, lazily stuffing my books into the bag.

I turned around to come face to face with a horse, a buffalo, and lastly who appeared to be their ringleader, a skunk.

"Excuse me." I said, attempting to walk through.

The horse shoved me hard, and I staggered a bit before growling. "The hell is your problem?!"

"Well I for one, feel threatened by the fact there's a predator in the room."

The Horse walked forward, pushing me. I looked around the room, hoping someone would come to my aid.

They laughed.

"Can you guys just leave me alone? I don't want to hurt any-"

I only saw the sneer on his face before I was cut off mid-sentence with an aching shock to my snout. I cried out and stumbled back into the wall. Did he just…punch me?

That did it. Any concern about being violent went out the window. The next time he raised his hoof a second later, I ducked.

I bit down hard, sinking my teeth into his arm.

He screamed and tried to pry me off him, and I let go.

I heard a teacher rush in, and he looked between the three of them and sent me to to the principal.

Me alone.

The principal preceded to go on and on about how my behavior was unacceptable.

I honestly didn't care though.

He gave me a two week suspension, and I just complied, leaving the office and headed for "home."

When I saw the foster home in the distance, I almost felt obligated to rush home and explain what happened to Ms. Cruz.

But it wasn't like I'd get in trouble at home or something.

I didn't have parents after all, well not anymore at least.

When that thought went through my head, my legs suddenly felt weak and I sat down.

I was under a tree, and stared off toward the sidewalk, at all the children walking with their parents, laughing, getting scolded, or just walking peacefully.

I just stared at the passing families, before staring at the ground.

* * *

"Knowing that I'd never be able to feel that, or remember what it was like, killed me. " I paused. "Honestly, it was the lowest I had ever felt." I said.

"What I do know, is that crying over it, doesn't change the fact that it happened." I looked at Nick. "Stuff happens in life, and there's not a thing you can do about it."

Nick seemed calmed by my words. "Why can't you remember what it was like before?"

I pointed to the back of my head. "The doctor said it had something to do with the hippocampus or something. I can only remember bits and pieces from before the incident, and even then it's not clear."

I laughed softly. "But hey. There's no reason to dwell on the past anyway."

He laughed. "You're a little wise for a ten year old, you know that?"

I chuckled.

Nick sighed. "I guess I need to tell you what happened to me right?"

I stretched a little, before yawning.. "It's up to you. No pressure."

Nick nodded, and stayed silent for a bit. He was shuffling his hands awkwardly. I figured he just wasn't comfortable reliving whatever happened that night.

I grimaced, it must've been pretty intense for him to be this shaken up about it. I hadn't been there when it happened, but I certainly remember how it was after the fact.


	7. Locked P2

A/N: YAY! TUS hit 1k yesterday! Thanks to all those who are, and have been reading! Here's another chapter.

Happy Mothers Day (Completely unrelated to the chapter, btw)

~Read and Review~

* * *

"Pain changes people. 

It's makes them trust less, overthink, and shut people out."

-Unk

* * *

(Last Week)

I was sitting in my room, reading a book called "Lost Worlds" it was a collection of lore on... you guessed it. Civilizations lost to time.

I glanced over at the clock and realized it was almost past six.

I frowned, how long would Nick be staying at that club? I thought he was only getting sworn in.

I rolled my eyes.

Maybe I should enjoy the time I had to myself. Normally right now, Nick would've been annoying me somehow, just to cure his boredom.

Another half-hour passed, and it was nearly seven.

There was a knock on my door, before Ms. Wilde came in, and I poked my head out from my book.

Ms. Wilde looked around the room smiling.

The walls were plastered with a couple posters, and there was huge stack of books in the corner, next to my dresser. My bed was more or less made, but some of the blanket draped onto the floor. The little desk where I made little wooden carvings now and then, had a orange-sized pile of sawdust, scattered papers, and a couple of pencils.

I was embarrassed by the mess.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Sorry for the mess."

She shook her head. "No, I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to make a mess."

I let out a sigh of relief.

She laughed. "That doesn't mean I don't want you to clean it."

Never mind.

"Anyways." She continued. "Could you go pick up Nick from the Cubscouts Club? It's four blocks away, you know where it is right?"

"Yea, we passed it once food shopping. "

I bent a corner of the page I was on, and closed the book. I chucked it onto the pile of books, and slipped on a hoodie.

Leaving the house, I turned the corner, and jogged down the street, dust kicking up from under my feet. I kissed my teeth when I saw the light was green, and cars were zooming up and down the street.

It was just getting dark, and my eyes began to adjust to the change in light. I bit on a claw anxiously, waiting for the light to change. I didn't like walking around at night, especially by myself, so I wanted to get back the house as soon as possible.

When the light changed, I ran across, feeling a sense of relief when I saw the Cub Scout's team base in the distance. The next couple of blocks weren't as busy, and few cars rode by, so I ran across the streets quickly. When I got to it, I was surprised to see it was just a regular apartment complex, an sign indicating it the club was housed there.

When I got to the building, the door was closed, but there was glass on the sides, and I could see light inside.

When I got up to the steps, I heard sniffling and looked around.

"Hello?" I called.

Suddenly it stopped, and I scratched my head, walking back down the steps.

I peered into the corner, and my heart dropped.

Nick was in the corner, in a fetal position. His ears twitched when I approached and he back away further.

"Whoever you are, just go away."

I noticed a muzzle on the floor next to him, and there was still bits of red fur caught on the straps. Looking between him and the muzzle it wasn't hard to figure out what happened.

They put a muzzle on him...

I sat down next to him, and place a hand on his back.

I opened my mouth to speak, and I couldn't help but feel nervous about what I said. I didn't want him to snap on me. "I know what you're thinking right now. But please don't use this as a basis for what all prey animals are like."

He picked his head up and looked at me like I was crazy. "Why not?"

I looked away. "I read this in a book once. Everything that's realistic has some sort of ugliness in it. Even a flower is ugly when it wilts, the ocean when it becomes violent. I'm sure that even though these animals were complete jerks, there's probably good prey out there."

He looked at the ground and I noticed something I hadn't seen before. He was covered in bruises, and his shirt was ripped up. "All I wanted, was to be a Cub Scout. I didn't want to attack anyone. But all they saw was that I was a fox. A dirty. Vile. Fox. And because of that, I had to be muzzled."

He looked at me, hurt written all over his face. "Do you know what that feels like? I felt like I couldn't breathe. On top of that, they jumped me. So if that's what the world thinks of foxes, it's exactly what I'll be."

It was starting to get cold, and I was shivering.

I stood up. "You shouldn't just let them get to you. That's what they want." Ace said, offering a hand for Nick to get up.

Nick pushed it away. "You don't get it. If they won't see past the stereotype, then I'll be just that. A typical. Conniving. Fox."

He got up, and dusted himself off. "I guess we should go now. It's getting late."

He took one step before letting stumbling a bit.

I quickly ran over to him, propping him up on my shoulder. "You'll should to the doctor."

We walked to the corner of the block, and looked both ways before crossing.

The sun was almost all the way down now, and the street lights blinked to life. The streets were fairly empty, the occasional car passing by. We walked in silence, the only sounds being our feet as well walked on the concrete.

When we got inside, the house Ms. Wilde was setting up the table. She looked up, smiling. "How did it go-"

She stopped mid sentence, dropping the plates on the table and rushing over to Nick. "Oh god. Who did this to you?!" She rushed to get a cold rag, and dabbed it on Nick's face, at he pushed it away.

"Just stop. I wanna be alone." He said, rushing up the steps to his room.

Nick stayed in his room for the rest of the night, refusing to talk or eat. The next day, was the same, him only leaving when he need food or a the bathroom. He kept conversations short, and in general, acted anti-social.

It was so out of character with him.

I wish that was when it stopped.


	8. The Den

**A/N:** Oookay. It's really been a while. It's been a rough month, and this month hasn't been much better, but, I will try to update bi monthly, at least.

Thanks to those who favorited and followed.

Read and Review! It's not the reason I write, but it's a great motivator.

* * *

"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated"

\- Confucius

* * *

Just like I suspected, Nick didn't open up to me about what happened before I got there. I wasn't offended, it's understandable that he'd still be shaken up about it.

I sighed a little too loudly and his ear twitched. "Sorry. It's-"

"It's cool. " I said, cutting him off. "I know how you feel."

He nodded, and we just lay in silence for a while, the only noise being that of a loud air conditioner.

"Ace, what do you want to be when you get older?" Nick asked.

I scratched the back of my ear, thinking of an answer. "I don't know. Maybe a law enforcer of some sort." I said.

Nick stifled a laugh. "Really? I'll be a businessman then. Everyone would want to trust a fox."We both laughed. "That's ironic isn't it?" I said. "But here in Zootopia it's entirely possible."

He looked at me. "You were serious?"

I nodded. "Yea. I'm pretty sure that's what I want to be. Imagine being called to the scene of a crime, because only you were smart enough to piece the clues together. Or maybe a undercover cop, who takes down gangs from the interior."

Nick shrugged. "You read too much mystery books. I figured you wanted to be a craftsman or something with all those carvings you make." I shook my head, showing him the necklace I had on. It was just a lightning bolt, with a hole bored through for a string. "These are just a hobby. I could make ya one of you want."

Nick sat up suddenly.. "Could you make one with a shark tooth?"

"What? Where would I get that?" I asked.

"Not an actual one, pee brain."

I laughed. "That coming from the kindergarten drop out."

He laughed. "Could you imagine? What if I had a stubble too? And the big bloodshot eyes?"

We both started cracking up.

"Give me a apple juice. On the rocks."

Nick said in a gruff voice.

There was a knock on the door, and Ms. Wilde came in. "It's time to go."

I frowned, as my efforts to bring Nick's spirits up, were made pointless. Nick stood up, and stretched. "Okay."

I followed behind him as he exited, shutting his door with a click.

* * *

When the car finally stopped, we were outside a small house. There was a small plaque on the door that read in bold, HELEN'S DEN. The door swung open before we got there, and a Lynx was there smiling.

Ms. Wilde walked up to her with a wide smile, embracing her with a hug.

She looked between the two of us a couple times, and the Lynx nodded. Eventually she walked to us, before walking us inside.

The inside was surprisingly bland. Gray walls, hardwood floors, sparse furniture.

She must a psychologist. I thought to myself.

It was obvious with the simplistic design of the house, or den, as it was called.

"Okay, Ace and Ms. Wilde, I'll see Nick alone. There's another room directly down the hall for you two to wait.

I nodded, and we left Nick with the psychologist, walking down into the other room, I sat down on a chair and let out a sigh. "I hope this doesn't take too long."

Ms. Wilde care in shortly. "It shouldn't take that long. I do hope she can get to the root of the problem though... get him to open up just a little." She said. "That reminds me. My brother, Finn is having a puzzle competition at his company this Friday. I thought you might have fun if you played."

I scratched the back of my ear. "What makes you think I'd want to do that?"

She shrugged. "Well, you read a lot. You're good with board games... You almost solved that Rubik's Cube." She threw her arms up a bit in a shrug. "It's up to you."

"…I guess it could be fun. Is there a prize?" I asked.

Ms. Wilde nodded. "I think $200 goes to the winner."

That's a lot of money... I could use it for games... a iPawd... Or back to school stuff… that'd be more practical.

I laughed to myself. As if I'd spend $200 on school stuff.

"Sure. Sign me up." I said.

She nodded, before looking around the room.

My mind couldn't help but drift to thinking about all the things I could be doing instead of just...sitting here...doing nothing but wait. I could be playing basketball. Or finishing my latest carving. Or even starting the tooth one Nick had asked for. I could be drawing. At the park-

That thought snapped me back and I immediately felt guilty. I shouldn't be wishing for something else while I need to be here for Nick. He needed me to be here so that's what I was going to do.

I glanced up at Mrs. Wilde.

She had picked up a magazine that was laying on the coffee table. She flicked through the pages seemingly interested in the article but I could see her glancing at the door every couple minutes.

How do parents do it? Surely she had things she wanted to do today. Like...shopping? What else do moms do? Probably lots of important adult stuff I don't know about yet.

How does she just...drop everything and be willing to sit through hours of agonizing bored-ness with out blinking an eye?

I mean- I'm not saying she shouldn't be here but I just don't get how parents can give up so much so easily. We knew Nick was going to be in there for at least an hour so she had time to run out and do a thing or two. But she didn't.

It was like even though she wasn't doing anything she somehow knew she was actually doing something important. I wasn't exactly sure.

How do parents...how can they...be the way the good ones are?

... There it goes. I unintentionally entered the section of my mind I barred off. Were my parents good? Were they nurturing type that walked me to bed, and read me a story? Or were they the kind that were only there when it was necessary?

I still couldn't remember much about life prior to the fire.

I hadn't mentioned it to anyone though that I had a reoccurring nightmare now and then either.

The dream was scarily real, and it freaked me out.

I would open my eyes to a dark room. There was some sort of restraint on my torso that prevented me from moving. Soon, it'd feel like my arm was burning, and then it would stop. Then a single flame would start in the corner until the whole room was up in flames.

Then I woke up.

It was such an odd dream, and it always left me feeling jittery when I woke up.

The was a loud **SLAP** , when Ms. Wilde accidentally knocked over a paperweight, and it tore me from my thoughts.

"Ace, could you pass that to me? Oh, and the grab those magazines too." She pointed over to the paperweight and the magazine rack. I nodded before getting up, and grabbing the paperweight, and the magazines. She thanked me before sifting through the pile and choosing one.

She seemed so calm right now, but when she found out what happened to Nick at the Cub Scout headquarters... I couldn't sleep that night. Not after the horrific words that left her mouth when she called the headmaster.

So. Many. Curses.

I knew quite a few myself, but that one conversation opened a whole new world of swearing for me. It was like I had a whole new arsenal at my disposal.

I stretched, and let out an obnoxiously loud yawn.

Ms. Wilde glared at me, and I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

She smiled, and tapped my nose softly, and it twitched. "Mind your manners."

I nodded, sitting up straight, and puffing out my chest. "Yes Ma'am."

She flicked my arm, smiling. "Very funny wise-guy."

* * *

The rest of the time went by fairly slowly, and I went from trying handstands, to juggling crumpled papers, to making paper airplanes, to trying to prop my body up with just my tail.

Suddenly there was a click at the door and Nick came in. He seemed fine, and he smiled when he saw me. "How are you feeling?" I asked. He stretched. "Tired. She made me tell her everything, and then we had a long talk about..." He yawned. "A bunch of stuff."

I nodded, accepting the vague answer. He seemed too tired to talk, and I could tell he wanted to leave. I walked over to Ms. Wilde, and waved to the psychiatrist as I approached. "Sooo. Can we go?"

Ms. Wilde nodded, and said goodbye, promising to call and speak to her later. When we finally got in the car, the quiet road, and the slight rumble of the car, lulled me to sleep.


	9. Welcome To He- School

**A/N:** Thanks for the support everyone!

Read and Review! It's not the reason I write, but it's a great motivator~

* * *

"If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old."

\- Peter Druker

* * *

 **BEEP** … **BEEP** … **BEEP** … **Thunk**

The only source of light in the room was the red flashing numbers that read 7:00am. I rubbed my eyes, before stretching, a satisfying pop coming from his back.

Nothing really notable happened the last week of summer. The tournament ended up being postponed due to reservation issues. I was annoyed and angry because of it because I wanted to end my summer with a bang.

Anyways, the first day of school was normally boring for me. After all, I was a bit of a pessimist at my old school, and that often lead to furs avoiding me. But this time, it was going to be different. I had Nick. So if all else failed, he'd still be there. At least I hoped he would.

I jumped out the bed, rushed to the bathroom, and shut the door. I absolutely hated being the last in the bathroom. Fur would sometimes clog the drain and make the shower floor feel gritty-

It just wasn't enjoyable.

I cleansed my body, making sure that I was a clean as possible. If I was going to male a good first impression, I had to at least make myself seem presentable. I quickly brushed my teeth, blowing out a breath of air into my hands to make sure my breath smelled minty.

I opted to let my fur air dry as it what I'd always done. I like looking a _little_ scruffy, but not too much.

What I _hadn't_ noticed my fur changing as of late. For one, my fur had gotten much darker, changing from the bright red fur I had up until now, to a more rusty color. The fur around my muzzle was a bright white and continued through my chest and stomach. The fur around my feet and hands were a brownish-red, significantly darker than the rest of my fur.

I twisted a bit trying to get a view of my back from the mirror, when there was a banging on the door, Nick's voice booming from the other side. "You done painting your nails? You've been in there forever. "

"Well, I just prefer not to look like a shabby feraI." I quipped back.

He laughed. "The ladies don't complain."

"The ladies don't complain." I mocked. "The only girl you speak to is Mom." I wrapped a towel around my waist before opening the door. When I stepped out, Nick sniffed the air before laughing. "What's with you and that shampoo?"

I shrugged. "It smells really good. Unlike yours."

Nick laughed as he walked into the bathroom "Whatever you say."

I walked back to my room with a shiver. My fur had not yet dried and the air felt cold. I pushed open the door to my room and shut it behind me. Once I closed the door, I cast my towel onto the bed, and put on some underwear.

I hadn't planned a specific outfit, so I sifted through my dresser drawers. I settled on a light blue tee, and some black shorts. My backpack sat in the corner with all my school supplies in it; a gift from Finn. He said it was to make up for the delay in the tournament.

It was an all black bag and had a mascot from a team I liked on it. It also had a secret pouch in the back. I loved this bag! I could carry both my school supplies and my carving tools. I knew that the carving tools weren't allowed on school grounds mainly because of liability issues.

I double checked to make sure all of my supplies were in my bag. The last thing I wanted was to have half my items missing. After I checked my bag, I looked over at my carving collection and tried to decide which carving I wanted to wear. I settled on the little lightning bolt one, and put it around my neck.

Picking up my bag and putting it on, I walked down the steps rather loudly. Mom was in the kitchen fixing up the lunch bags. When she saw me she slid over a bowl of strawberries and toast, which was one of my favorite breakfasts. It almost compared next to a great omelette and crispy hash browns.

Nick was eating a small bowl of blueberries. He chewed a little loud but not enough to bother anyone.

I ate it slowly, my mind reflecting on my other first days of school. They weren't that great so I stopped myself, as I was tired of looking back. Life was better now… I shouldn't keep reliving bad memories.

"The bus will be here in 5 minutes guys. So eat your food quickly," Mom said.

I choked on my food when she said that. I'd forgotten we have to take the bus.

The cheese-bus.

I quickly finished my food before rushing over to get my lunch from Mom. She smiled, and handed it to me. Nick followed suit, and we stood by the door, waiting for the bus.

"Oh, this is nerve racking," I sighed.

"What's wrong? Is it your first time to school?" Nick mocked.

"No!" I shot back. "It's my first time going to school with a real family."

"Your family doesn't go to school with you," Nick said jokingly.

I punched Nick in the shoulder. "You know what I meant."

The two young foxes were silent as they patiently waited for the bus.

Eventually a loud horn broke through the air, indicating the bus's arrival.

Mom walked over to us and gave Nick and I a hug. "Nick, try not to annoy your teachers. Ace, make a good first impression."

We said our goodbyes and rushed out to the bus. School here we come.

"Who's that?" asked a tiger.

"Why did he come with Nick?" muttered a pig.

"Hi Nick!" said a wolf.

"Who cares?!" snapped a lion.

"Does he have an accent?" asked a hippo.

"Don't next to me!" A Zebra said when I looked in his direction.

I resisted the urge to flip him off, trying to tune out all the voices. Too many animals were talking at once. Nick walked to the back and sat down, I follow after him, setting my bag by my feet so I could back up against the chair. "Lemme get the window seat."

"What? No way!" said Nick

"Come on Nick. I beat that last level of Crypt Raider for you the other day. Finn couldn't even figure out that puzzle."

"You did." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "And I thank you dearly for that." I glared at him for a bit before buckling in. I swung my feet idly as the bus started moving.

"Hi!" The voice came from a cheetah in front of me. She smiled widely, when I looked up.

"H-Hello," I said shyly, looking away from the .

"Where ya from?" She asked curiously.

"I came from the house we just passed," I said sarcastically.

"Well obviously. I've taken this bus since I was eight. I've never seen you before, and you came with Nick. Are you two related?"

"He's my brother," I said defensively.

"Eww!" She said, sticking her tongue at Nick. "Now I feel bad for you."

"She's just mad I won't respond to her love letters." Nick said grinning at her.

"I'd never send you a love letter, Wilde," she growled.

With that she dropped down back into the seat in front of us. "So what should I know about the school before we get there?"

Nick shrugged. "Nothing really. It's not that bad of a school. It's not bad at all, actually."

I nodded before letting my head rest on the chair, closing my eyes. I didn't mind waking up early, but knowing this would be my routine from now on was gonna take getting used to...

Now it's nine months of no more sleeping in.

* * *

When we pulled into the front of school, there were animals crying, smiling with excitement, some screaming because they didn't want to leave their parents. The school itself was shaped like a large oval. Glancing at the windows, I was happy to see the majority of the rooms had air conditioning.

I tapped Nick. "How do you know what class we're in?"

"Well, if you'd gone here last year it'd be on your last report card. Mom already spoke to the principal about your class though, you're in mine," he said as we disembarked the bus

"I guess I got it easy then," I said happily.

...

I chewed on the cap of my pen, boredom written all over my face. I probably wouldn't have been so bored if Nick and I sat next to each other... but he sat in the front, and I sat in the back. It wasn't that bad, I didn't mind sitting in the back of the classroom.

This bland. Boring. Classroom.

We were four periods into the day, and needless to say, I was hating them all so far. Anything we'd discussed felt like a review to me, I wasn't learning anything.

I groaned letting my head rest on the table. We were in English right now, and it was just so boring. Right now we're supposed to be reading a book called Porklet, and answering the questions she'd written on the board. They only took me a couple minutes, having read the question first, then skimming for related text in the book.

After practically reading Porklet, I took out a Rubik's Cube out of my bag that I had been working on. I had only one layer correct and now I had to get the middle layer.

 _Click_.

 _Squeak_.

I moved the cube rather quickly, rotating and flipping. I felt a sense of happiness when I started recognizing familiar patterns. Lost in my own little world, I hadn't noticed the teacher walk over to my desk, when she put her hand out, breaking my trance.

I looked up slowly. "Yes?"

She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. "No toys in the classroom." I heard some snickers, and my ears flattened against my head. "It's not really a toy. It's a, um," I felt my tongue tie as I tried to spin the situation in my favor. "... It's educational?" I offered, slowly.

She snorted and swiped the cube from my hand, before heading back to the desk.

A deep scowl was now plastered on my face, as I was now bored and annoyed. The snickers throughout the class didn't help either.

Ms. Greene was honestly a terrible teacher. She was unenthusiastic, plain, monotone. You'd think a hyena would be funny, or at least humorous.

That's probably racist. Or maybe stereotyping. I don't know.

She must've read my mind because when she noticed my eyes meet hers, she quickly scrambled up the cube before shoving it in a draw in her desk, a sadistic grin on her face. I gawked at the petty action, before looking away. A couple minutes passed before there was a knock at the door. A man walked in, with a student in tow.

Jeez. Tardy on the first day of school?

He was a cat? I wasn't quite sure what he was. His fur was a golden brown color, transitioning to a black at the tips of his arms, feet, and ears. His ears had big tufts of black fur on them, and his eyes were a pale blue. He had on a white tee, black shorts, and a small visor cap. All designer.

"Must be nice." I thought to myself.

Now don't get me wrong, I am grateful for all that I have but I wouldn't mind being dressed head to toe in designer either.

Ms. Greene introduced him to the class, but I wasn't really paying attention. I was thinking of ways to exact my revenge on the tyrant that claimed to be my teacher. My ear twitched, as I heard the slight creek of the chair, as he sat next to me. The class jumped up in activity, as furs walked up to him to introduce themselves.

I glanced at him, and he seemed flustered by all the attention, a wide goofy grin on his face. Ms. Greene suddenly slammed her hand on the table, and everyone rushed to their seats, sending the class back to its previous state.

"Now, what did you lot get for question 1?"

I raised my hand, glad she'd finally broken the immense state of boredom I was in. She nodded in my direction before looking at the roster. "Ace."

"The word 'jest' stems from the word 'jester', which is a professional jokester. So jest likely means something done for humor, which is choice B," I answered

Ms. Greene nodded before choosing another student.

After we'd answered a couple more questions, Ms. Greene handed out our disclosures stating class rules, and the curriculum we were going to be learning. I placed it in a folder, and put the folder in my bag.

* * *

"Hey," called a voice.

I looked over to the source of the voice, and it was the cat from earlier. "Think this class will always be this boring?" He asked.

I chucked. "So far it seems likely. You have it good though... you only had to endure 30 minutes of it."

He let out a sigh. "My name's Raymond Frost. What yours?" He said, offering a hand.

I took it, and smiled. "It's Ace... Wilde." It was weird introducing myself with that surname. But it felt good too... I finally had a family. Well I had for almost two months now, but still. It felt good.

Raymond stretched a little, and yawned.

I scratched my head. "If you don't mind me asking, what species are you?"

He waved his hand. "It's alright, I'm a lynx. I just moved into the rainforest district last week."

"Move often?" I asked.

"My father owns part of clothing company, so I have to follow him wherever he goes," he said with a bit of annoyance.

"What about your mom?"

Mark yawned. "She's there too. We're not too close though."

I dropped the topic, quickly as he seemed to tense up. "Do you have retractable claws?" I said quickly showing mine.

"Yeah." He replied quickly, unfurling them. "Do you play any sports?"

"Basketball. Handball. Um... That's all. You?"

He made a throwing motion. "Frisbee and Football are my favorites."

"Basically anything that involves throwing and catching?" I said.

"Yeah."

The bell rang, indicating the period was over. In our case, that meant lunch time.

Raymond waved before joining the mass of students rushing out the room to the cafeteria.

I sighed a bit. It wasn't even past 10 AM yet.

This school's schedule was pretty weird.

I reached into my bag to retrieve the lunch Mom made for me. It was in a small brown bag, and it wasn't too much. Just a sandwich, juice, and some chips called Cheese Curls. I sat back down to open the chips up when I noticed I was being watched.

Nick had made his way through the departing students, and was staring at me oddly. I looked up, eating a cheese curl. "What?"

"The cafeteria's that way." Nick said, thumb facing the door.

"Oh. I normally eat lunch by myself." I said, liking my finger.

"Well, you were by yourself at your _old_ school. Now you're here." He pulled me out the seat, and I swatted his hand, laughing.

"Don't just pull me around like that. Makes me feel weak," I snapped

I hadn't noticed before, but Nick had gotten taller since I'd met him earlier in the summer.

Like a lot taller... Was I just short?

The tips of my ears were just under the start of his ears. I must've been staring for awhile because he gave me a funny look. "A picture would last longer." He said grinning.

"As if I'd want a picture of you." I said, pushing my seat in. "Go on, lead me to this cafeteria you speak of."

He nodded, and we left the classroom and walked into the hallway. The hallways were relatively empty, as most students were still in class, there was a small line waiting to enter the cafeteria though. There walls were littered with numerous bulletin boards with various projects.

It was a nice school.

I noticed Nick stop for a second, I looked over at him for a second, and at that exact moment bumped into someone, sending them toppling to the floor.

That someone was an arctic fox and she smiled when she noticed my expression. "It's alright, no worries." She replied quickly, picking herself and the books before I could help.

Her voice was smooth and silky. Like a high-end robe. Her eyes were amazing too. Brilliantly green, vibrant. I helped her up to her feet and her tail flicked. "You're Ace, right? I saw you walk in with Nick this morning." She paused to wave at Nick who waved back smoothly.

Did I mention she was pretty?

I smiled bashfully, it was nice being recognized by a cute girl. "... Uh. Yes. I'm Ace." I answered quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed I was staring.

"Well, my name's Jade." she said. She glanced at my lunch bag. "You should hurry, all the good seats will be taken."

She turned to walk away, and I called out to her again. "Where are you going?"

"Ask Nick." With that she turned and walked down the hallway, and I turned to Nick, who began walking to the cafeteria again.

"What does she mean by that?" I asked perplexedly.

"She's a teachers helper. Helps the teacher out with different tasks and whatnot. All she cares about is school. It's gross." Nick said with disgust

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Same class since kindergarten. She hasn't changed at all. Total nerd." He said rudely.

"Nerds run the world Nick," I countered. "Careful. You might be working for one someday."

He laughed a bit before pushing through the doors that lead to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was nice too. There were booths, tables, and benches. In the far right corner was the kitchen area where you could pick up school food.

I pointed to a table toward the back, and Nick nodded. We sat down and I resumed eating lunch, Nick however was looking around.

"What are you looking for?"

"Not what, who," he corrected

"Who are you looking for?"

"Who am I looking for? I'm looking for some of my friends. I was hoping they'd have the same lunch period as me."

I nodded, taking another bite of my sandwich. "Are you gonna eat your chips?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't really like cheese curls. They leave a bad taste in my mouth."

I was about to reach for them when they were suddenly snatched by a lithe, brown paw. The thief was a weasel, who quickly opened them. "Jeez Nicky you shouldn't just leave your food unattended."

He smiled. "What's up Duke, I literally haven't seen you in months."

They laughed. "Ace, this is Duke, and Duke this is Ace. This is one of my best friends."

The weasel reached his arm out and shook my hand quickly. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise."

Duke smiled. "New here? I've never seen ya here before."

"Yea. Nick's my brother."

"Ohhhhhhh. So he's your brother from another mother. That's cool. You guys don't look that alike though."

"That's a good thing right?" I asked, a small grin on my face.

Duke leaned over to me, grinning. "Definitely."


	10. Frisbee?

**A/N** : Chapter 10! Wooooo I can't wait to write upcoming chapter of this story. It's gonna pick up soon, I promise :D.

OC's are opening up again! I need a few for the high school arc, which is coming in a few chapters.

To submit a OC, use the following template.

 **Name** :

 **Species** :

 **Quirks** :

 **Nature / Personality** :

 **Appearance** :

 ** _Enjoy the read! And drop a review with your thoughts!_**

 _No quote, sorry._

* * *

Nick and I parted ways to our sides of the classroom as we walked in. There was usually a couple of minutes before Ms. Greene would start the class, seeing as some students might enter late.

For the class however, this was a chance to talk about anything they wanted.

The first couple of weeks flew by. Ray and I became great friends, and we actually had plans to go to the new arcade opening tomorrow. I was looking forward to it, and then, Nick said he didn't want to go.

Nick seemed less interactive in general, now that he was back with his school friends.

It didn't bother me a whole lot, his friends seemed okay. I didn't want to be a tag-along or anything. We still hung out and stuff, but the whole dynamic we had going last summer just shifted a lot. It was just different.

I noticed Ray walk into the room with a wide grin on his face when he saw me. "What's up?"

"Nothing." I replied smiling too. "You did the math homework?"

His eye widened in shock. "Oh crap! I completely forgot. Did you do it?"

I dragged my paw down my face. "No… I didn't. I hoped you did so I could copy you."

He laughed. "You're supposed to be the smarter of the duo. You can't mess up now."

I shrugged. "I did literally every other assignment. I can miss one. You on the other hand are gonna get a nasty grade on your report card if you keep this up You rarely do homework."

He shrugged. "You don't need immaculate grades to be successful."

"Someone's using his word a day calendar. And grades do matter."

He waved his arm. "High school grades matter. Anyways… my dad said that I could go tomorrow! Is Nick coming too?"

I shook my head. "He's gonna hang out at Duke's house or something."

"Ah."

Ms. Greene closed the door, signifying class was starting. Those who weren't already sitting, sat down, and we all took out our notebook and pens.

"Before I start today's lesson, I got some flyers for the teams here. There's Football, Ultimate Frisbee, and Track."

I raised my hand. "Are there anymore teams?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "These are the only teams in season right now Ace."

My ears splayed as I realized that was kind of a dumb question.

I heard Ray chuckle. "She really hates you man."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care. I do all my work so she can't complain."

"Except math." Ray said quickly.

"Screw math."

We laughed a bit, and I reached out for the flyer as it was passed to me.

"Ace, join the Frisbee team with me."

Honestly, I wanted to say no. Mostly because I was sort of... scared, but I couldn't say no to Ray.

His grins were infectious. "I'll try it. No promises." I said.

He smiled even wider. "Awesome. We can practice during recess."

I looked back at the flyer. Apparently tryouts were next Tuesday after school.

…That couldn't work, I had to take the bus. On second thought how would I commit to a team without a ride? Mom couldn't pick us up from school, she was deep in the center of Zootopia while we headed home.

"Wait uh, I take the bus home Ray. How could I even go to tryouts?"

He waved his hand. "I'll drop ya off. My driver won't mind."

"Driver?"

"Yeah."

"You have a personal driver?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Does he call you sir? Or like, young master?"

Ray stifled a laugh. "He's one of my dad's helpers."

"Helper? Is that a fancy way of saying a Nanny?" He shot me a look. "It's not a nanny."

"Totally a nanny."

"He's not a nanny! He's uh, like a butler! Yeah, a butler."

I laughed a bit, not too loudly. "Good evening, young master Raymond."

"Shut up you dork."

We laughed a bit before getting back to copying what Ms. Greene was writing. It was something about a writer that used to live a long time ago.

As we copied the information I noticed the fox from the first day of school looking at me. She looked away quickly when I looked up, and my eyes trailed back slowly to the board.

Jade.

She was probably the first girl I had a crush on before. As much as I'd deny it if Ray, or Nick asked. She was never around long enough for me to talk to her though. I'd like to at least become friends with her.

"So uh, Ray. What do you want to be?" I said, placing my pen on my notebook.

"A member of the ZIA."

"ZIA?"

He nodded. "They control all the major crime that the ZPD can't. You know, white collar crimes. They can do anything from assassinations to espionage, could be anything from bodyguards to hit men. The get to use this awesome tech, and there's a school you have to invited to to get in."

I scratched my head. "White collar crime? You watch too many crime shows." I said chuckling. "But that does sound cool. I always wanted to be in the law field, but I can't see myself as a cop or lawyer."

"So join the ZIA."

"Do you even know how to get in?"

"Well, I uh... I'm not sure. But I'm gonna work there. All I gotta do is find out how."

I noticed Ms. Greene looking at us and I clamped my mouth shut, getting back to work.

* * *

The lunchroom buzzed with activity, the main topic being one, the arcade would be opened this weekend, and two, the team tryouts.

Ray bumped me with his arm as he grabbed his food. "Some grade A stuff here, eh?"

I looked at the, uh, substance that was on his plate. "Gross. Don't eat that. You can have half my sandwich."

"What is it?" He asked, casting everything except for a chocolate milk into the garbage.

It's strange how most of the school food ends up in the garbage. Why don't they just improve the recipe?

"It's PB and J." I said.

We sat on a table, not too far from the windows. I handed him half, and we ate in silence for a bit before Nick came to sit with us.

"Where's Duke and that other kid?" I asked as he sat down.

He shrugged. "I dunno. Think they're absent today."

The was a loud screech as the doors to the playground opened. As the first wave of students ran out to play, Nick, Ray, and I were still at the table.

"You guys wanna play Frisbee?"

I hadn't felt like going out today, but I didn't have anything better to do in particular.

I shrugged, my eyes falling onto Nick. "I don't care, it's up to Nick."

"I'd rather not, my arms a little sore. You guys can go though."

I frowned at the lie. If he didn't want to play, he could've just said no. I gave him a look that said 'You're lying," and he responded with the driest look I'd ever seen.

"Okay, let's go then Ray."

* * *

I ran as I watched the bright green disc ascend toward the ground. Jumping, I caught it with my right paw, landing I the ground.

Ray waved his arms in the distance, and I threw it back toward him.

The wind, however decided that I couldn't have just a normal game.

No.

That was too much to ask.

The disc flew through the air curving right toward a group of kids talking by the benches. It hit a panther in the back of his head, with a clonk, and the playground went silent. He turned around slowly and looked around before his eyes settled on Ray. His muzzle curved into a deep scowl as he walked toward the Lynx.

I quickly ran over, as a crowd formed around the two to see the panther flick Ray's trademark visor off his head.

"Thought that was funny huh?"

Before it could escalate further, I pushed through the crowd waving my hands wildly.

"It was me. Not him. It was totally an accident, alright?" I gestured to the field. "I threw from over there and the wind curved it toward you. That's all."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes."

The scowl on his face curved into a small smile. "Oh good. It was just a misunderstanding."

"For a second there I thought you were-"

A loud 'oooh' erupted from the small crowd, and I stumbled back holding my nose. My eyes started watering, and my nose throbbed in pain.

Ray yelled, and tried to jump at the panther, only to be shoved back by one of the panther's friends.

The panther smiled when I looked up to him, and without thinking, I swung at him, claws out, raking across his muzzle.

He growled and jabbed his fist toward me.

My mind jumped into overdrive as I relieved the fight that happened years ago. The fight that made me feel the lowest I'd ever been. I watched as his fist came closer to me and I realized something.

The movements were painfully similar, and… slow.

Almost like I could see it coming.

I ducked under his arm, and took a step or two back, and took on a fighting stance. My left shoulder was facing him, and my paws were balled into fists.

If anyone was saying anything, I couldn't hear them. The only thing I heard was my own heartbeat and breaths.

My heart jumped when he swung again, and just like last time, his movement was… slow.

I ducked again, and hit the panther under his jaw, and he stepped back and swung at me. I curled my arm toward my shoulder, and took the punch on it. I hit him three times, two lefts and a right in to face. He stumbled back, blood leaking from his lip. He wiped his muzzle groggily, and ran at me, fangs bared.

I smiled, as I easily jumped out the way, sending him headfirst into the gate behind me.

He stood up again, and that's when a large wolf grabbed him, and held him down, as another animal grabbed me, harshly shoving me away.

"Principal! NOW!"

* * *

The cold tile in the building made me jump a bit as we walked in.

The animal behind me flicked my ear. "Stop that."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I can't help it, it's cold."

At the end of the corridor was a single door. The door opened widely, and I was met face to face with… a ferret.

The principal was a ferret? Figured he'd be a lion or something…just a bigger animal in general. Ferrets weren't the most imposing of animals after all.

"He smiled warmly, as I walked in and nodded. "Thank you. I'll speak to him alone now."

As the door closed, I felt my cheeks and ears heat up in embarrassment. Here I was, roughly a month into a new school, and I fought someone.

"Sit down. Stop fiddling your thumbs, it's annoying." His voice was oddly deep, but it wasn't scary sounding. It sounded almost, kind.

I nodded and sat in the chair, covering my hands with my tail, staring at it.

"Welcome to my office Ace! I'm principal Gibbs."

I jumped and looked up at him, and he was grinning. "That fight isn't why you're here by the way. I've had my eye on you ever since you came into the school. More so when you took the preliminary exam."

He jumped onto his desk and walked around it, before sitting on the edge directly across from me. "You sir, achieved a cumulative score of 30 out of 30! Only seven other furs in the country have done that!" He paused. "Well, if we're only counting this 3rd grade generation. Twenty years ago, there was this crazy- wait, I'm getting sidetracked. Anyways, I just wanted to get to know you, as I've already met the other two who did alarmingly well on the exams. It makes me proud knowing such promise is here in my school."

"Who else did good?" I asked.

The ferret waved his finger. "I can't tell you. Also, you can't tell anyone about your score, er, I'd prefer if you didn't. The test scores are usually left unreleased anyway. Just keep up the hard work."

He got up and walked over to the computer on his desk, and with a bit of force, swiveled it around. The screen revealed several camera feeds, one of which was the playground.

"I'm not the head of security here, but I still like to watch my students now and then. I know what you did was in self defense, so I'll let it slide this time."

I let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Are you okay though? You seem fine, but if you want to go to the nurse that's fine too."

I shook my head. "I'm ok."

"Well, that's it for now. See ya around."

With that I was escorted out the principal's office, and into class.

* * *

"Hey."

Ray waved as I sat down, and looked back at his desk. "Sorry for getting you into that. I swear, I would've jumped in to help, but I got held up."

I laughed a bit. "It's not your fault. If anything the world is to blame for blowing the frisbee toward him in the first place."

He nodded weakly, and I smiled. "It's fine, really. I can hold my own."

Ray looked back and smiled. "Next time, I'll have your back. For sure."

I smiled back at him, and with that we got back to work.

Well, Ray got back to work, and I had to ignore the murmuring that was likely about my fight.

Well, I wanted it to be different this time around right?


	11. Hanging Out

**A/N** : Chapter 11!

Good God, I had literally NO time to myself this month. :/ I managed to get this out though!

Big Thanks to my Beta **The Glittery Hedgehog Ninja!**

Read and Review! I love to hear feedback! Also Fav and Follow... those are nice too~

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* * *

"There is nothing on this Earth more to be prized then true friendship."

-Thomas Aquinas

* * *

"God that A.C. feels awesome."

The sounds of various game consoles, and machines were music to my ears. I immediately dashed to the vendor, who smiled at my arrival.

"Hey Oscar! Ten dollars!" I handed him my gold member card, and he smirked. "You know, with all the money you two have spent here this month, you could've bought a console." He swiped the card, then placed the money into his cash register.

I chuckled, stepping out the way for Ray. "I just like the selection here."

The otter nodded before ringing up Ray. "Well, you two have fun."

I looked around the arcade, trying to decide what to play first. Ray tugged at my arm, pointing at zombie game call 'Dystopia.' With that we began what had become a normal Saturday for us.

* * *

"Insufficient credit?" Ray drawled out slowly as he swiped his card.

"That means you're all out," I teased.

It was nearing two P.M, which was saying a lot as we'd gotten here around 10, when the arcade first opened. It wasn't just a arcade though, there was a small cafe inside, and a laser tag room. The laser tag room was usually booked on Saturdays so we've yet to go there yet.

"Yeah. I still have enough for one game though," I said, sticking my tongue at the lynx.

He frowned, and I laughed. "C'mon, let's play that game over there," I said pointing at a game called 'Hungry Hal'. The main bulk of the game showed a hippo with its mouth wide-open. The object of the game was to hit all the the teeth with a couple balls that represented apples. As I swiped my card,the game booted to life. Expertly, I clicked the two-player option.

"This must be new," I commented, picking up the balls.

It droned on to say whoever hit the most teeth would win, and I went first. Some dubstep played and I tried my best to knock all the teeth out.

"Nice job!" the automatic voice in the game congratulated. "You knocked down nine teeth!"

I turned around to Ray, smiling. "Beat that."

He grinned at the challenge. "With pleasure."

The music once again played, and my jaw dropped when Ray began to knock them all down, effortlessly.

"Perfect! You hit 20 teeth!"

The hippo's eyes flashed as the credits were awarded to my card. I looked at Ray, who just grinned smugly.

"Yeah, whatever let's just get our prizes," I grumbled, a bit upset that I'd lost.

He grinned toothily, and we dashed over to the counter, where Oscar sat with earbuds in his ears. He waved when he noticed us walking over

"How'd it go guys?"

"Great!" I said, handing him my card. He swiped it, and handed me a small paper with the amount of credits I had on it. He did the same for Ray, and we stared at the prizes that perched on the wall giddily.

* * *

I settled on a laser pointer, and cheap silver chain as my prizes. I planned to paint it over and use it for one of my carvings, so I was excited about that at least.

Ray had gotten a load of candy and a mood ring.

"So, wanna go to the park now?" I asked, fumbling with the laser pointer, in an attempt to get it working.

Ray shook his head. "My dad's taking me somewhere today, sorry."

"It's cool," I assured over my shoulder, as I walked over to the payphone and dialed Mom's number. "I just hope that you're not scared to play me."

" _Pfft_. Don't get carried away."

A click from the phone alerted me to Mom picking up, and I quickly told her I was done.

"Ace! I told you to call me ahead of time, I'm not going to home for a bit," she said worriedly. My ears splayed, and I grimaced. "Oh. I'm sorry. I completely forgot. I could just wait outside..."

I heard her sigh, and she spoke again. "No, no, it's fine. I think Finn's in the area so, I'll have him pick you up. I'm actually on the way to pick up Nick; he has a appointment today. Which is why I _told_ you to call me ahead of time."

A loud **beep** made me jerk away from the phone. "Are you driving?"

"What? No. I pulled over. I know better than that, kit."

I chuckled. "Okay, just checking."

She was quiet for a bit before she spoke again. "Finn says he's on the way. Just wait inside, okay? I'll see you later."

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

"Why are you whispering?"

"...I'm not whispering."

"What, are you embarrassed? Does say 'I love you' not sound manly?"

I could hear the humor in her voice, and I groaned. "I love you, tooThere."

My mom laughed. "See you later."

I hung up the phone, and stuck my tongue at Ray, who grinned at me knowingly...

* * *

When his car arrived, I tried my best not to look , Ray usually got into a regular cab, but this—this was not a cab.

It was a really nice car.

A tall feline stepped out, who was the spitting image of Ray, but older. He walked over to Ray, and embraced him in a warm hug. It had been a month or two, and it just dawned on me that this was the first time I'd seen Ray's dad in person.

Their conversation was a bit out of earshot for me, and I smiled as Ray introduced me.

"This is Ace, dad! He's my best friend!"

The tall lynx smiled, before offering his paw out to shake. "Hello Ace. I've heard a lot about you."

I took it, trying my best not to flinch when we shook paws. His hand was massive compared to mine.

"Is that a good thing?" I asked tentatively.

The feline laughed. "In your case, yes. I'll see you around."

With that he turned around, and walked back to his and I did a handshake we'd been working on, before he himself hopped into the car.

The car swerved off, and I sat on the bench outside the arcade,swinging my feet boredly.

 _"This is Ace, dad! He's my best friend!"_

I liked the sound of that. I had friends, sure, but never a best friend, per say. And having him say it right in front of me was a nice, too.

As I thought about Ray, I noticed that we had some stuff in common, too.

He liked mysteries, and puzzles to a certain degree. Myths and stuff like that were our favorites.

What we didn't agree on was music.

He thought Kanine West was better then Kendrick Llama.

I know, I know—he's out of his mind.

A loud _honk_ tore me from my thoughts, and I saw Finn waving from the front seat of a car. I walked towards him. He got outand ruffled the fur on my head, much to my annoyance.

"How's everything?" he asked, hopping back into the car.

"Good."

" _Good_ good? Or good as in 'I don't want to talk about my problems'?"

" _Good_ , good," I said, chuckling.

"Good!" Finn grinned, pulling off onto the street.

Finn hummed a song as we drove, and I just looked around the car. I noticed that the glove compartment had several papers hanging out of it.

"Uh, what's up with all these papers?"

"Oh, those are just some papers I'm taking from my office. It's too cluttered, I felt like I was suffocating," he said, making a choking gesture.

"Oh. What kind of papers?"

He shrugged. "Uh, articles, game plots, bills. I dunno."

I nodded, and I noticed Finn skip our block.

"You missed—"

"I know, I'm just stopping by ZBIC."

"What's that?"

His eyes widened. "You've never had it?"

"I wouldn't ask you if I had."

"Well, we're gonna fix that right now."

He parked outside a store it seemed, with a large ZBIC sign glowing. Walking in, my nose was assaulted by the smell of candy, fruit, and the best-smelling of them all—ice cream.

"This, is Zootopia's Best Ice Cream, as their name entails." He grabbed a cup and passed it to me. "It's self-serve so, you just walk up to any of those levers and put as much as you want. Then you can put toppings of your choice, too."

I was sold when he said I could have as much as I want.

"What about Nick? Should we bring some back for him?"

Finn shrugged. "It's up to you. He prefers pawpsicles."

* * *

"Your total is 36.78." the clerk, announced monotonously, holding out a hoof.

Finn handed her a card, and she swiped it. She asked him for I.D. and we were off.

"You didn't hold back, huh," Finn commented, glancing at the monstrosity I had in a cup. It was a huge hunk of strawberry and cookies and cream ice cream, topped with sprinkles, cookie dough, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, more sprinkles, and a candy cherry on top.

I grinned, shaking my head as I spooned some of the cool deliciousness into my mouth. "You said munf as you wanf."

Finn sighed, "Don't talk with your mouth full."

I smiled in response.

Today was a awesome day.


End file.
